Hiring a freelance salesperson can be worth it if you have the insight to go about such a work relationship, or it could be a regrettable decision. There are lots of businesses that have successfully scaled with the help of freelance sales personnel and teams.
To grow your business with freelance sales people, and to effectively manage freelance sales teams, here are ten very important tips for you to note and keep as a guide.
1.Don’t hold back their commission:
A freelance salesperson, unlike a regular employee , does not have his or her necessities for the job like a car, fuel, or airtime to talk to prospects sorted out by the company. For this reason, they will need their commissions paid regularly to be able to afford their basic needs and to also carry out their work duties. The longer you hold back their commission, the more you hold back sales.
2. Be a motivating sales manager
Freelance sales personnel may usually not be as attached to the job or company as an employed salesperson would be, hence although they could all do with some motivation, freelance sales personnel need lots of motivation to keep them hyped up and grow their commitment or love for the job. Yes, paying on time is good motivation but sometimes, hit them with some verbal motivation, build teamwork and let them feel your involvement as a manager in their work rather than having them feel like they’re alone in getting the job done.
3. Refer to other successful businesses
As they say, we all need each other. Write down a list of successful businesses that also hired freelance salespeople and extract from their strategies helpful tips on how to relate with your freelance sales personnel for a successful business. Knowing how to relate well with freelance sales personnel and knowing the right motivation to give them goes a long way to decide whether they stay and help your business or leave.
4. Remember they are not tied to your company
Most freelance sales personnel chose to be freelance because they do not like to be tied to one company and you need to keep that in mind. Do not bind a freelance salesperson with the same terms and conditions or rules set for your employed sales personnel because you do not pay them to do all the roles that an employed salesperson does.
5. Give them details about the business
Freelance salespeople are not magicians! If you need them to help increase sales, you need to give them every detail about your product or service and who your target market is. If you haven’t figured out your target market yet, then don’t expect an immediate boost in sales. You need to give them time to analyze the business and who best to sell it to, as well as deduce the best strategy for your business.
6. Be honest and open
As I said, freelancers are not magicians or miracle workers. Discuss with them every problem you’re having with your business in terms of sales so that they can figure out what is wrong. You can’t expect them to fix a problem they are not aware of and you can’t expect them to make for your business in one week the sales you couldn’t make in months or years.
7. Keep in mind they can leave at any time
Freelancers are job hoppers. They do not stay in one place for long and your job may be no exception. No matter how good (or bad) business may be going with them, they can decide to leave at any time and you need to keep that in mind and have a backup plan always, lest you’re prone to disappointment.
8. Talk of a backup plan, a logical one would be hiring more freelance sales personnel than you need
There’s a very low chance that all two or three freelance sales personnel that you’re working with will decide to leave at the same time. Therefore, if one of them decides to leave, you would not be disappointed as you will still have one or two (or oven more) still holding up sales for you.
9. Don’t be scared to invest
I know I said freelance sales personnel barely stay on one job for long. I know I also said you don’t own them hence you cannot treat them like employed sales personnel, however, it is still your business and you need their best of abilities for it. Although you’re not obliged to, you can sign them up for training or seminars, you can provide them with a car or a least a little token aside their commission for fuel, etc. Although it is to their advantage, look on the brighter side that it is for the betterment of your business too.
10. keep in mind that you hired a salesman, not a marketer
Marketing is more about convincing people to buy or patronize a product or service and this is mostly done on an open platform, seeking to attract potential customers. Salespeople on the other hand scout for prospects and convince them to patronize therefore they need the marketers to do their job so they can pick up from there. The salesperson establishes direct communication with the prospects attracted by the marketer to figure out which of the available products or services is best for them. So, provide your freelance sales personnel all the data they need from the marketing team and watch them do their thing.
